Police identify suspect in fatal shooting at South Carolina college

March 01, 2013|Harriet McLeod | Reuters

(Handout . Reuters, )

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - The man thought to have fatally shot a student at South Carolina's Coastal Carolina University was identified on Friday by police as 20-year-old Marquis Spencer McDonald.

McDonald is suspected of killing Anthony Darnell Liddell, 19, near the campus in Conway, near Myrtle Beach, on Tuesday night.

Liddell, a sophomore, died of at least one gunshot wound in the parking lot of University Place, a student housing complex operated by the school.

McDonald, the subject of an intense manhunt, may be driving a 1997 white Lincoln Town Car with a South Carolina license plate, police said. He previously has faced drug charges, according to criminal records.

Authorities believe that Liddell and McDonald knew each other, said Thom Berry, a spokesman for the State Law Enforcement Division.

"We believe there was some connection between the two," Berry said. "This does not appear to be an isolated incident involving these two individuals. It just so happened to occur on a college campus."

About 200 Coastal Carolina students, along with faculty, staff and friends, gathered on Thursday night for a memorial service for Liddell, an exercise and sports medicine major, according to the university's website.

"A great future has been cut short by violence," university President David DeCenzo said at the ceremony. "Our society simply must change."